Sideswipe: May 25: Give way to love in Whangārei

All possible novel plots

A tremendous list shared on Twitter journalist and author Imogen West-Knights has gone viral.

1. Mmm, there's something not quite right about this house.

2. She's so crazy.

3. I live abroad and that's very interesting.

4. A bad thing happened but I won't tell you yet.

5. My boyfriend sucks but I love him.

6. Climate crisis and I'm a parent????

7. Going on a journey but the real journey is finding myself.

8. A rich woman is unbearably sad.

9. It's the holidays and a big family can't get on very well.

10. We were by the sea when something spooky happened.

11. Why fathers?

Equality explained

Worms, but not as we know 'em

It sounds like a premise for a horror movie: an area plagued with "extremely active, aggressive" worms that can jump a foot into the air and have "voracious appetites". But in California, it's a reality. The Amynthas agrestis also goes by the names Asian jumping worm, Alabama jumper and crazy snake worm. While the CDFA notes that while earthworms are often "considered friends of the ecosystem due to their ability to loosen and aerate soil", that's most definitely not the case here. These worms can wreak havoc in hardwood forests thanks to their ability to rapidly eat their way through the leaves that blanket forest floors. Suggested methods of dealing with the worms sound a bit involved: One is to handpick them from the earth, put them in bags, place the bags in the sun for a minimum of 10 minutes, and then deposit the bags in the bin.